Telephone apparatus

ABSTRACT

It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable telephone in which a display portion can be used as a mirror and electric power can be saved under a key locked state. In the telephone according to the present invention, in a front surface of a display portion ( 10 ), a panel ( 8 ) that is brought into a transparent state when voltage is not applied thereto, and is brought into a mirror surface state when voltage is applied is arranged. When the telephone is set to a key locked state, the panel ( 8 ) is brought to the mirror surface state and the display of the display portion ( 10 ) is turned off. Under a specific condition that, for instance, a call is received in the key locked state, the panel ( 8 ) can be suitably brought to the transparent state and the display of the display portion ( 10 ) can be turned on. Under a key unlocked state, while any key is operated, at least the panel ( 8 ) is brought to the transparent state and the display of the display portion ( 10 ) is turned on. When the key is not operated for a prescribed time, the panel ( 8 ) is brought to the mirror surface state and the display of the display portion ( 10 ) is turned off.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a telephone including a portabletelephone, a simplified portable telephone, a portable informationterminal device (PDA) and a fixed telephone.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, a portable telephone having a mirror provided on thesurface of a telephone main body has been devised by taking the utilityof a user into consideration. As the portable telephone of this type,for instance, JP-A-2000-196718 discloses a portable telephone in whichthe front surface part of a main body of the portable telephone isformed as a mirror surface part, a part of the mirror is formed with ahalf-mirror, a liquid crystal display portion is provided in the back ofthe half-mirror, and when a back light of the liquid crystal displayportion is turned off, all the mirror surface part including thehalf-mirror part acts as a mirror and when the back light is turned on,the display of the liquid display portion is seen through thehalf-mirror. Further, JP-A-2000-299719 also discloses a portabletelephone in which a half-mirror is provided in the display surface sideof a liquid display portion like the portable telephone disclosed in theabove-described publication.

However, in the above-described technique, when the back light of theliquid crystal display portion is turned off, the mirror surface partfunctions as a mirror and the display of the liquid crystal displayportion can be recognized only when the back light of the liquid crystaldisplay portion is turned on. Accordingly, when the liquid crystaldisplay portion displays information, both the liquid crystal displayportion and the back light necessarily needs to be turned on. Thus, theconsumption of electric power is increased, so that a telephone having abattery as a power source has been inconveniently hardly used for a longtime.

Further, ordinarily, in the portable telephone, what is called a keylockup state can be frequently set in which a key cannot be operatedwithout a specific key operation (a depression of an exclusive button,etc.) or under conditions other than a specific condition (at the timeof receiving a call or receiving a mail). Since the key lockup state isset so that an erroneous operation does not occur when the portabletelephone is not used, the liquid crystal display portion is rarelyrecognized under this state. However, even under the key lockup state,any illustration or date information has been hitherto displayed on theliquid crystal display portion even under the key lockup state.Accordingly, the liquid crystal display portion has been always keptturned on (ON). When the technique disclosed in the above-described twopublications is directly applied to the usual portable telephone, notonly the liquid crystal display portion, but also the back light needsto be always turned on to display information on the liquid crystaldisplay portion. Thus, in the key lockup state, the consumption ofelectric power is undesirably increased.

It is an object of the present invention to solve the usual problems asdescribed above and provide a portable telephone that has a function asa mirror and can reduce the consumption of electric power under a keylocked state.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

A telephone according to the present invention includes: a displayportion; a panel provided in a display surface side of the displayportion and changing from a transparent state to a mirror surface statewhen voltage is applied thereto; and a control unit for bringing thepanel to the mirror surface state and turning off the power of thedisplay portion when a key locked state is set.

According to this structure, under the key locked state in which thedisplay portion does not need to display information, the panel can beused as a mirror. Since the display portion is also turned off, theconsumption of electric power can be reduced.

Further, the telephone according to the present invention furtherincludes a second control unit for bringing the panel to the transparentstate and turning on the power of the display portion when a call isreceived under the key locked state.

According to this structure, when the call is received even in the keylocked state, the panel becomes the transparent state to display whosends the call on the display portion. Accordingly, a user can recognizeit through the panel.

Further, the telephone according to the present invention furtherincludes a third control unit for bringing the panel to the mirrorsurface state and turning off the power of the display portion whenthere is a response to the received call.

According to this structure, when the user responds to the received callto speak thereto under the key locked state, the user does not need torecognize the display of the display portion during speaking. Thus, thepanel is brought to the mirror surface state and the power of thedisplay portion is turned off so that the consumption of electric powercan be reduced.

Further, in the telephone according to the present invention, the secondcontrol unit is provided for bringing the panel to the transparent stateand turning on the power of the display portion when there isunrecognized call receiving history information or an unrecognizedreceiving mail under the key locked state.

According to this structure, when there is the unrecognized callreceiving history information or the unrecognized receiving mail underthe key locked state, the panel is brought to the transparent state andthe power of the display portion is turned on. Accordingly, even whenthere is the unrecognized call receiving history information or theunrecognized receiving mail under the key locked state, contentsdisplayed on the display portion can be recognized through the panel.

Further, in the telephone according to the present invention, the thirdcontrol unit is provided for bringing the panel to the mirror surfacestate and turning off the power of the display portion after theunrecognized call receiving history information or the unrecognizedreceiving mail is recognized.

According to this structure, when the unrecognized call receivinghistory information or the unrecognized receiving mail is recognizedunder the key locked state, the panel is brought to the mirror surfacestate and the power of the display portion is turned off. Accordingly,the consumption of the electric power can be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a portable telephone in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a front view of an external appearance of the portabletelephone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along a line A-A of a display portionand a panel part of the portable telephone shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the portabletelephone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the portabletelephone according to the embodiment of the present invention.

In the drawings, reference numeral 1 designates an antenna. 2 designatesa transmitting and receiving part. 3 designates a key operating part. 4designates a speaker. 5 designates a microphone. 6 designates areceiver. 7 designates a memory. 8 designates a panel. 9 designates apanel control part. 10 designates a display portion. 11 designates adisplay portion control part. 12 designates a central control part.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Now, an embodiment of the present invention will be described below byreferring to the drawings. In the embodiment, as a telephone including aportable telephone, a simplified portable telephone, a portableinformation terminal device (PDA), and a fixed telephone, the portabletelephone is described as an example.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a portable telephone according toan embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a view of an externalappearance of the portable telephone. FIG. 3 is a sectional view takenalong a line A-A of a display portion and a panel part of the portabletelephone shown in FIG. 2. FIGS. 4 and 5 are flow charts for explainingthe operations of the portable telephone.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a portable telephone 100 according to the embodimentincludes an antenna 1, a transmitting and receiving part 2 fortransmitting and receiving information through the antenna 1, a keyoperating part 3 configured by a plurality of keys for inputtingtelephone numbers, characters, instructions, etc., a speaker 4 forgenerating a call receiving sound, a speaking voice or the like, amicrophone 5 used during speaking, a receiver 6, a memory 7 for storingvarious kinds of programs and various kinds of data, etc., a panelcontrol part 9 for controlling a below-described panel 8, a displayportion 10 composed of a liquid crystal display portion for performingvarious kinds of displays, a display portion control part 11 forcontrolling the display portion 10 and a central control part 12 forcontrolling these parts respectively.

In the portable telephone 100, when the key operating part 3 is operatedto input the telephone number of a mate, the telephone number of themate is displayed on the display portion. Under this state, when the keyoperating part is further used to perform a transmitting operation, themate can be called by telephone. Further, in the memory 7, the name andthe telephone number of the mate can be stored as a telephone directory.When the name and the telephone number of the mate are stored in thememory, the name of the mate is inputted to call the telephone number sothat a transmitting operation can be performed.

Then, when a call is received, the call receiving sound is outputtedfrom the speaker 4. When the telephone number of the mate is transmittedfrom the mate side (a central office side), the telephone number isdisplayed on the display portion 10. Further, when the name and thetelephone number of the mate are stored in the memory 7, the transmittedtelephone number of the mate is compared with the telephone numberstored in the memory 7. When the telephone number coincides with thetelephone number stored in the memory, the name of the matecorresponding to the coinciding telephone number is also displayed onthe display portion 10 at the same time.

When a call is received and the key operating part 3 is operated torespond to the received call, the microphone 5 and the receiver 6 areused so that a user can talk with the mate.

Then, either when the user responds to the received call to speak to themate or when the user himself or herself transmits a call to the mate tospeak to the mate, if the user can speak to the mate, the centralcontrol part 12 properly counts a speaking time or a speaking charge todisplay the counted speaking time and the speaking charge on the displayportion 10. Further, when the key operating part 3 is operated so thatthe user can speak to the mate under a hands-free state, the user canspeak to the mate under the hands-free state by using the microphone 5or the speaker 4.

Further, the portable telephone 100 includes functions of a mail,internet, a game, a clock, a calculator, etc. as well as a function asthe telephone. These functions can respectively operate through a keyinput by the key operating part 3.

Further, when a predetermined time passes without operating the keyoperating part 3, this is detected by the central control part 12. Inthe portable telephone 100, a unit is provided for turning off a backlight for lighting the display portion 10 from a back under the controlof the central control part 12. However, when the key operating part 3is operated, the back light is turned on again. Thus, to avoid theexhaustion of a battery by unexpectedly performing a key operation, whatis called a key lockup state can be set in which the keys cannot beoperated under an operation other than a predetermined specific keyoperation or under a condition other than a specific condition.

The display portion 10 is configured by a liquid display portion 10 a,as described above. As shown in FIG. 3, on the back surface (an oppositesurface to a display surface) of the liquid crystal display portion 10a, a light guide plate 10 b for guiding light from the back light 10 cto the back surface of the liquid crystal display portion 10 a isarranged. On the front surface (the display surface) of the displayportion 10, the panel 8 is arranged. The panel 8 includes a liquidcrystal material 8 a, transparent electrodes 8 b and 8 c for applyingvoltage to the liquid crystal material 8 a, a deflecting plate 8 ddisposed in the front side of the liquid crystal material 8 a and areflection type deflecting plate 8 e disposed in the back side of theliquid crystal material 8 a.

The panel 8 is formed in such a way that the orientation of a liquidcrystal is changed depending on the voltage applied to the transparentelectrodes 8 b and 8 c and an aperture is changed in accordance with therelation between the deflecting plates 8 d and 8 e. As a result, under astate (a state that a power is turned off) that the voltage is notapplied between the transparent electrodes 8 b and 8 c, the aperturebecomes maximum so that external lights and lights from the displayportion 10 side are substantially completely transmitted. On the otherhands, under a state that voltage is applied between the transparentelectrodes 8 b and 8 c (a state that a power is turned on), the aperturebecomes minimum so that the lights from the display portion 10 are nottransmitted and the external lights are reflected. Accordingly, thepanel operates to be brought to what is called a mirror surface state ora state similar thereto.

As described above, in the portable telephone 100, the panel 8 that isbrought to the mirror surface state when the voltage is applied theretoand to a transparent state when the voltage is not applied thereto isprovided in the front surface (the display surface side) of the displayportion 10. Then, the panel 8 and the display portion 10 respectivelyoperate as shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 in a key locked state or in anordinary state that the key locked state is released.

As shown in FIG. 4, when the key operating part 3 is used to operate apreset key and set the key locked state (step 401), this state isdetected by the central control part 12. The central control part 12controls the panel control part 9 to apply prescribed voltage to thepanel 8. Accordingly, under this state, the panel 8 is brought to themirror surface state. At the same time, in the display portion 10, adisplay is turned off under the control of the central control part 12and the display portion control part 11 and the back light 10 c is alsoturned off (step 402).

That is, in the key locked state, since the panel 8 is in the mirrorsurface state and the display portion 10 cannot be seen through, thedisplay portion 10 and the back light 10 c can be turned off. Electricpower required in a display part is only the voltage applied to thepanel 8. Consumed electric power can be extremely reduced as comparedwith that when the display portion 10 and the back light 10 c are turnedon. Under this state, since the panel 8 is located in the mirror surfacestate, the panel 8 can be directly used as a mirror and can beeffectively utilized for dressing or other uses.

In the key locked state, even when keys are operated without thespecific key operation or the key operation under the specificconditions, the central control part 12 decides these key operations tobe invalid and make them inoperative. Here, as the specific conditions,a case that a call is received or a case that unrecognized callreceiving history information or a mail is received or the like is setin the portable telephone 100. In these cases, the key operations arerespectively decided to be valid as described below so that a prescribedoperation can be carried out.

Now, this operation will be described below in detail.

Firstly, the central control part 12 always monitors whether or not acall is received even under the key locked state (step 403). When thecall is received, the central control part 12 detects it and controlsthe panel control part 9 to stop the supply of power to the panel 8 andbring the panel 8 to a transparent state. At the same time, the centralcontrol part 12 controls the display portion control part 11 to displaythe name and the telephone number of the mate who sends the call on thedisplay portion 10 (step 404). Then, if the back light 10 c isnecessary, the central control part controls the back light to belighted at the same time, brightly light the display portion 10 from itsback surface and further emit a calling sound from the speaker 4.

When the user hears the calling sound or sees the display of the displayportion 10 to respond to the received call by operating a responding key(Y of step 405), the central control part 12 detects the key operationas the key operation under the specific conditions and controls thepanel control part 9 to bring the panel 8 to the mirror surface state.Then, the display portion 10 is turned off and the back light 10 c isalso turned off (step 406). During speaking, this state is maintained.When the speaking is finished (Y of step 407), the central control partreturns to an original key locked state (step 402).

On the other hand, when the call is received and the panel 8 is broughtto the transparent state (step 404) and the user does not respond to thereceived call (N of step 405), the central control part 12 decideswhether or not a prescribed time passes after the call is received (step408). When the prescribed time does not pass, the central control partreturns to the step (step 405) for deciding whether or not the userresponds to the received call to repeat this state. When the prescribedtime passes while the user does not respond to the received call, thecentral control part 12 detects it and controls the panel control part 9or the display portion control part 11 to bring the panel 8 to themirror surface state and turn off the display portion 10 and the backlight 10 c (step 409). Then, the central control part 12 decides whetheror not the user is receiving the call (step 410). When the user isreceiving the call, the central control part operates to continuouslydecide whether or not the user responds to the call (step 405). When theuser completely receives the call, the central control part temporarilystores the telephone number of the mate in the memory 7 as theunrecognized call receiving history information (step 411) and returnsto the original key locked state (step 402).

Even when there is no call under the key locked state (N of step 403),the central control part 12 constantly monitors whether or not there isunrecognized call receiving history information or a receiving mail(step 412). When there is the unrecognized call receiving historyinformation or the receiving mail, the central control part controls thepanel control part 9 or the display portion control part 11 respectivelyto bring the panel 8 to the transparent state and turn on the display ofthe display portion (step 413). Then, in this case, to reduce theconsumption of electric power, the back light 10 c is turned off. In thedisplay portion 10, the display can be seen through the panel 8 due tothe brightness of itself.

Subsequently, under this state, when the keys are operated to recognizethe unrecognized call receiving history information or the receivingmail (Y of step 414), the central control part 12 detects it to turn onthe back light 10 c (step 415). Accordingly, under this state, thedisplay portion 10 is lighted brightly so that the unrecognized callreceiving history information or the receiving mail can be assuredly andvisually recognized.

To recognize the unrecognized call receiving history information or thereceiving mail, some key operations need to be carried out. Under thestate that the unrecognized call receiving history information or thereceiving mail is recognized, as long as the key operations are carriedout, the panel 8, the display portion 10 and the back light 10 cmaintain their states (the state of step 415) as they are for apredetermined time after the key operations are carried out.

Accordingly, while the unrecognized call receiving history informationor the receiving mail is recognized, the display portion 10 is brightlylighted by the back light 10 c so that the display of the displayportion 10 can be precisely and visually recognized through the panel 8.

When the recognition of the unrecognized call receiving historyinformation or the receiving mail is finished, the central control part12 detects it. The recognized call receiving history information or thereceiving mail is registered in the memory 7 as the recognition finishedcall receiving history information or the receiving mail (step 417).Then, the central control part turns off the back light 10 c (step 419)and returns to that original key locked state (step 402).

When, although there is the unrecognized call receiving historyinformation or the receiving mail, it is not recognized and left (N ofstep 414), the states that the panel 8 is located in the transparentstate, the display portion 10 is turned on and the back light 10 c isturned off (step 413) are maintained. When a call is not received andthere is not the unrecognized call receiving history information or thereceiving mail, the central control part directly returns to theoriginal key locked state (step 402) to continuously decide whether ornot a call is received or whether or not there is the unrecognized callreceiving history information or the receiving mail (step 403, step412).

The operation when the key locked state is set is described above. Thekey locked state can be released by operating a specific key. Now, thedetail of an operation when the key locked state is released will bedescribed below.

As shown in FIG. 5, when a specific key operation (for instance, anexclusive key is operated, a common key is pressed for a long time, orspecific operations are carried out such as operations in specificorder) is carried out to release the key locked state (step 501), thecentral control part 12 detects it. The central control part 12 controlsthe panel control part 9 or the display portion control part 11 to bringthe panel 8 to the transparent state and turn on the display portion 10and the back light 10 c, respectively (step 502).

Then, under this state, the central control part 12 always monitorswhether or not any key except a key for setting the key locked state isoperated (step 503). When any key is operated, an operationcorresponding to the key operation is performed (step 504). When the keyoperation is not carried out and a preset time passes (Y of step 505),the central control part 12 detects it and controls the panel controlpart 9 or the display portion control part 11 to bring the panel 8 tothe mirror surface state and turn off the display portion 10 and theback light 10 c (step 506). Then, under this state, the central controlpart returns to the state for deciding whether or not any key isoperated (step 503).

As described above, according to this embodiment, the panel 8 isprovided in the display surface side of the display portion 10. Thepanel 8 is brought to the mirror surface state under the key lockedstate. Even under the key locked state, when the call is received, thepanel 8 is brought to the transparent state. When the user responds tothe call, the panel 8 is immediately brought to the mirror surfacestate. Under the mirror surface state, since the display portion 10cannot be seen through, both the display portion 10 and the back light10 c can be turned off. Under this state, the consumption of electricpower can be reduced.

Further, according to this embodiment, even under the key locked state,when the call is received, the panel 8 is brought to the transparentstate and the display portion 10 and the back light 10 c are turned onunder this state. Thus, the name and the telephone number of the matewho sends the call that are displayed on the display portion 10 can beclearly and visually recognized through the panel 8.

Further, according to this embodiment, when there is the unrecognizedcall receiving history information or the receiving mail, the panel 8 isbrought to the transparent state to recognize it. After the unrecognizedcall receiving history information or the receiving mail is recognized,the recognized call receiving history information or the receiving mailis determined to be completely recognized to return the panel 8 and thedisplay portion 10 to original states (the panel 8 is brought to themirror surface state, the display portion 10 is turned off and the backlight 10 c is turned off). Thus, whether or not there is theunrecognized call receiving history information or the receiving mailcan be easily recognized.

In this embodiment, as the display portion 10, the liquid crystaldisplay portion 10 a that does not emit light by itself is used and theliquid crystal display portion 10 a is suitably lighted by the backlight 10 c. However, the back light 10 c may be completely synchronizedwith turning on/off of the liquid crystal display portion 10 a. Further,even when a display portion that emits light by itself is used as thedisplay portion 10, electric power supplied to the display portion 10 issimilarly suitably and stepwise controlled or on/off controlled toobtain the same effects.

The present invention is described in detail by referring to thespecific embodiment. However, it is to be understood to a person withordinary skill in the art that various changes or modifications may beapplied thereto without departing the spirit and the scope of thepresent invention.

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2002-178787filed on Jun. 19, 2002 and the contents thereof are incorporated hereinas a reference.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

As described above, according to the present invention, the panellocated in the display surface side of the display portion can bebrought to the mirror surface state under the key locked state. Underthis state, the panel can be used as a mirror for dressing or otheruses. In the display portion, since the display is turned off, excessiveelectric power does not advantageously need to be consumed.

1. A telephone, comprising: a display portion; a panel, which isprovided on a display surface side of the display portion, and whichchanges from a transparent state to a mirror surface state when voltageis applied to the panel; and a control unit, which brings the panel tothe mirror surface state and turns off the power of the display portionwhen a key locked state is set.
 2. The telephone as set forth in claim1, further comprising a second control unit which brings the panel tothe transparent state and turns on the power of the display portion whena call is received under the key locked state.
 3. The telephone as setforth in claim 2, further comprising a third control unit which bringsthe panel to the mirror surface state and turns off the power of thedisplay portion when a response to the received call is performed. 4.The telephone as set forth in claim 1, wherein the second control unitis provided for bringing the panel to the transparent state and turningon the power of the display portion when there is unrecognized callreceiving history information or an unrecognized receiving mail underthe key locked state.
 5. The telephone as set forth in claim 4, whereinthe third control unit is provided for bringing the panel to the mirrorsurface state and turning off the power of the display portion when arecognition of the unrecognized call receiving history information orthe unrecognized receiving mail is performed.